SAN FRANCISCO, June 1, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2016 buildOn Bay Area Dinner is a celebration of solidarity and service. This inspiring evening unites over 400 corporate executives, young professionals and community leaders to recognize the work of buildOn's incredible youth here in the Bay Area, their dedication to community, and the work buildOn does globally. The dinner will take place at 6:00pm on June 3rd at the iconic San Francisco City Hall.
This year, buildOn is honoring SolarCity's GivePower Foundation for their continued commitment to sustainability, service and education. Since first teaming up in 2013, buildOn and SolarCity have now illuminated more than 200 schools with clean, sustainable solar power in Nicaragua, Haiti, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Nepal and Malawi.
Hayes Barnard, SolarCity's Chief Revenue Officer and GivePower Foundation's President, will be accepting the honor and speaking at the dinner.
"It's been an absolute privilege to partner with buildOn to bring reliable energy to classrooms without electricity across the globe. We are not only providing lighting for education, but a central gathering place for entire communities to come together," said Barnard. "buildOn has been instrumental in helping GivePower Foundation reach remote areas of the world and empower the lives of others through light."
Rosann Jager, buildOn's Global Chief Program Officer, states that "In the West African country of Mali, community members often thank buildOn by saying in the local language of Bambara, 'Awnice yeelen kola,' which means 'Thank you for bringing the light.' This is in recognition of the new world that education offers to them. Now, with this extraordinary partnership with SolarCity, buildOn partner communities are literally seeing the light. This is an unprecedented partnership that will have extraordinary outcomes and will help change the lives of thousands of people."
The buildOn solar-equipped schools can now stay open after dark, providing safe spaces where children can study after class, adults can learn in Adult Literacy Classes and community members can gather. But the benefits go well beyond the classroom. Solar power is creating sustainable development in buildOn partner communities and helping to alleviate many of the 'energy poverty' issues that often plague the developing world.
For more information about the dinner, please visit our event website or email Siobhan Brewer at siobhan.brewer@buildon.org to buy a ticket or a table. For press inquiries, please contact Alex Smith at alex.smith@buildOn.org.
About buildOn: At home or abroad, buildOn's goal is to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education. Across the U.S., buildOn empowers urban youth to transform their neighborhoods through intensive community service and to change the world by building schools in some of the economically poorest countries in the world. Since 1991, buildOn has constructed 919 schools worldwide, with more than 120,000 children, parents and grandparents attending these schools every day. For more information, visit www.buildon.org. buildOn has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator
About SolarCity: SolarCity® (NASDAQ:SCTY) provides clean energy. The company has disrupted the century-old energy industry by providing renewable electricity directly to homeowners, businesses and government organizations for less than they spend on utility bills. SolarCity gives customers control of their energy costs to protect them from rising rates. The company makes solar energy easy by taking care of everything from design and permitting to monitoring and maintenance. Visit the company online at www.solarcity.com and follow the company on Facebook & Twitter.